Columbus Day

Becoming a National Holiday

Columbus Day was first celebrated in New York in 1792, the 300th anniversary of Columbus's fated voyage, primarily as an ethnic holiday for Italian Americans. It did not become celebrated as a nationwide holiday until the 1860s in the United States. In 1866, an annual sharpshooting contest in New York incorporated festivities honoring Columbus. This initial celebration expanded to a parade and carnival by 1869. That same year, Italians in San Francisco celebrated “Discovery Day.” As of 1876, numerous large U.S. cities, including Philadelphia and Boston, held events promoting recognition of Columbus, which became annual traditions.

After a failed attempt at canonizing Columbus, Italian Americans and the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternity, among other groups, succeeded in gathering support for Columbus Day as a national holiday. Congress approved the new holiday, declaring that it would be celebrated in 1892, 400 years after Columbus sighted land. The Columbus Day celebrations of 1892 were rather elaborate. A large statue of Columbus was erected in New York on Columbus Avenue, and the Columbian Exposition the following year at the Chicago World's Fair boasted replicas of his three ships. President Benjamin Harrison encouraged children in schools across the country to acknowledge the holiday in classrooms.

Colorado became the first state to recognize the holiday in 1905. By 1910, 15 states observed Columbus Day, and this number increased to 34 by 1938. Due to calendar shifts and the placement of Sundays in October in 1892, the first Columbus Day was set as October 21, but this had changed back to October 12 by 1910. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill declaring Columbus Day would fall on the second Monday of October. Despite being observed in an increasing number of states, Columbus Day did not become an official national holiday until 1971.

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